Oak View residents voice concerns about Rainbow rezoning

What's proposed: Rainbow Environmental Services, located near the Oak View neighborhood and two schools, wants to change zoning for some of its property from residential to commercial and industrial. As of right now, there are no plans for the site the company wants to rezone, but the company does say it would need to remove the historical landmarks from the site by demolishing or moving them elsewhere.

What's the next step: The issue is tentatively scheduled to be voted on at the Nov. 4 City Council meeting.

Residents of the Oak View neighborhood told Ocean View School District officials at a recent meeting that having Rainbow Environmental Services so close to homes and schools in the neighborhood has led to a constant dust in the air that affects respiratory health as well as a persistent unpleasant odor.

In a meeting held by the school district on Oct. 9, residents filled the multi-purpose room at Oak View Elementary to discuss the proposed rezoning of nearby land owned by Rainbow, the waste management company. Many said they think the rezoning will eventually lead to the company expanding operations closer to school sites, which many residents oppose.

“That dust, our kids are inhaling it down when they’re playing,” said Maribel Mendez, vice president of the Parent Teacher Organization at the elementary school. “At the preschool, kids can’t use their outside benches anymore. They eat inside of classrooms.”

While there is no specific plan to build on the land in question, the company does need to get the property rezoned, said Rainbow spokeswoman Sue Gordon.

The area is currently zoned for residential use, and there is a tentative plan for a vote at the Nov. 4 City Council meeting on whether to change that zoning to commercial and industrial use.

Much of the discussion around the proposed zoning change has centered on the historical sites on the property, which Gordon said the company needs to “take care of … whether they are demolished or moved.” The historical sites include the oldest Japanese-American church in Southern California, a barn, mission, home and a bungalow.

Now, though, residents in the Oak View neighborhood are turning out in force because of health concerns.

Roni Ellis, director of administration and communication at the Ocean View district, said that the piece of Rainbow’s property in question is “almost connected” to the Oak View Preschool.

“This has impact on a community, but our concern is, there’s a school right there,” Ellis said. “We want to know what the impact of that zoning would be. Rainbow is an active part of the community, but parents have concerns about the current conditions.”

Ellis said that last year, students were called in from the playground five times because of odors and concerns about what was in the air.

Karen Catabijan, a former principal of Oak View Elementary School and one of the speakers at the meeting, shared concerns about health issues even though she now works in a different school district.

“This would never happen in an affluent neighborhood,” Catabijan said after the meeting. “The neighborhood – they’re finally standing up and saying, ‘We’re going to do something about this.’ Some of them are employed [at Rainbow]. I think they’re feeling that health … is much more important than perhaps worrying about their livelihood.”

She said that there wasn’t a day when she worked at Oak View when dust wasn’t hanging in the air or the odor of the waste dump wasn’t noticeable.

“There was one incident where … one of the teachers opened the door and whatever was in the air burned their eyes and they could feel it on their skin,” said Catabijan, now a principal at Turtle Rock Elementary School in Irvine.

She said while the school district worked successfully with Rainbow on some issues, she felt there wasn’t enough effort on the company’s part to be responsive to the district’s needs.

Gordon would not comment specifically about health issues raised by the parents and school officials.

“We’re in compliance for all regulatory requirements for operating our facility,” she said. “That’s the most I can say right now.”

Mendez said Oak View residents will be gathering signatures for petitions against the proposed rezoning, and they plan to show up in force at the Nov. 4 council meeting.

“Today, we feel like we have a lot of support,” Mendez said. “We want [Rainbow] not to expand, and for them to [add a] roof so our children can at least kind of have a normal life as students.”

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